“Of course I came,” Hugh replied in a brisk, no-nonsense voice. “Now, tell me,” he went on. “What is going on here?” He looked at the boy. “Nicholas?”
“Mama is dead,” the child said starkly.
Hugh’s face went perfectly still. “What happened? I thought she was getting better.”
Nicholas swallowed. “She was, but then the fever came back and she died.”
Hugh reached an arm around the child’s shoulders and drew him closer. “I am so sorry, Nicholas.”
Mutely the boy nodded. He turned his face into Hugh’s chest.
Hugh looked around the empty courtyard. “The servants did not come back?”
Nicholas’s head moved in a negative gesture.
“Is Edith still here?” Hugh asked.
Nicholas stepped away from Hugh. He rubbed his hands against his eyes then shook his head. “Her brother came two days ago and took her away. She said she would send someone, but no one came.”
Benjamin nudged Nicholas, asking for attention.
“Do you mean that you and Iseult are alone here?” Hugh asked incredulously.
The boy’s lip quivered, and he nodded.
Alan was appalled. Dear God, he thought. What a horrendous situation.
Very gently, Hugh asked, “Did anyone bury your mother, Nicholas?”
Another shake of the untidy black head. “She is still in her bed,” Nicholas said.
Alan felt sick.
“When did she die?” Hugh asked in that same surprisingly gentle voice.
“The day after my father left.”
Alan counted in his mind. Rye had come to Lincoln the day before the fair, Monday. That must mean his wife had died on Tuesday. It was now Thursday.
Jesu. The woman had been dead for two days and these children had been left alone with her.
“She smells,” the little girl said tearfully.
Alan felt even sicker.
“Do you know where my father is, Hugh?” Nicholas asked. “He was supposed to come home after the fair.”
Hugh avoided the question. “This is what we are going to do,” he said briskly. “I am going to take the two of you back to Lincoln with me, where you will stay at my house. Then I will have some men come out to Linsay with a coffin and bring your mother’s body back to Lincoln as well, so we can bury her with proper respect in holy ground.”
The children were silent.
Hugh smoothed the loose hair off of Iseult’s forehead. The little girl still had her arms around him.
“How does that sound?” he asked Nicholas.
“Is my father in Lincoln?” Nicholas asked.
Alan clenched his fists. He felt like crying himself.
Hugh responded gravely, “I am sorry to have to tell you this, Nicholas and Iseult, but your father is dead.”
Silence.
Iseult dropped her arms from around Hugh and looked up at him, her eyes dazed. “Papa is dead?”
“I am afraid that he is, little one.”
The little girl looked at her brother. “W-what is going to happen to us, Nicholas?” she whispered.
The boy’s face was white with shock. He shook his head, unable to reply.
Hugh said, “You will both live with me until we can find one of your aunts or uncles to take care of you.”
“We don’t have any aunts or uncles,” Nicholas said stoically.
It was the stoicism that broke Alan’s heart. If the boy had whined or cried it would have been bad enough, but to hear such a tone from so young a child was devastating.
Hugh said, “Well, if no family members can be found to care for you, you will just have to keep on living with me.”
The boy’s blue eyes searched Hugh’s face. He bit his lip. “Do you mean that, Hugh?”
“Of course I do,” Hugh replied.
With amazement, Alan realized that the children believed him.
They left Linsay an hour later. Hugh had the children pack some of their clothes, and while they were doing this, he went into Lady Rye’s bedroom. He would not allow Alan to come with him.
When he came out, his face was perfectly expressionless. “I hope the children have not gone in there recently,” was his only comment to Alan.
Iseult clung to Hugh, so he took her up on Rufus with him and told Nicholas to ride with Alan. Benjamin trotted along at their heels.
Alan had thought that surely Hugh would leave the mastiff behind for the sheriff’s men to deal with, but he had included the dog in their party as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Alan supposed that for the moment Benjamin was going to live at Hugh’s house as well.
Alan and Nicholas rode mostly in silence. After offering his regrets, Alan could think of nothing else to say to a boy whose life had been so devastated, so he decided it would be best to say nothing.
Halfway across Lincoln Fields, they met up with two riders entering the main road from a side path. With surprise, Alan recognized Richard and Elizabeth de Beauté.
Every time Alan saw Elizabeth, he was astonished anew by her beauty. Today her skin was delicately flushed and there was a shine in her eyes that made her look even more breathtaking than usual.
Each party pulled up and regarded the other under the lowering gray sky.
Hugh spoke first. “Did you enjoy your ride, Lady Elizabeth?”
There was a note in his voice that Alan did not understand, but Elizabeth’s rosy flush deepened.
“Aye, my lord,” she returned a little defiantly. Her green eyes flashed from Iseult to Nicholas. “Who are these children?”
Iseult was asleep in Hugh’s arms, but in front of Alan, Nicholas was awake and alert.
Benjamin had been off investigating a scent, and now he trotted up and immediately began to bark at the two new riders.
“Benjamin, stop,” Nicholas ordered.
The dog barked twice more, sharply, then went to stand protectively between Nicholas and the strangers.
“These are John Rye’s children, my lady,” Hugh said.
“But where is Lady Rye?” Richard asked in a puzzled voice.
“Lady Rye is dead,” Hugh returned.
“God Almighty.” Richard looked with compassion upon the sleeping child in Hugh’s arms. “The poor mites. Where are you taking them, Hugh? To the convent in Wigford?”
“They are coming home with me,” Hugh returned. “Bernard is well enough now to allow Lady Cristen to return to my town house. I am sure she will look after them until we can settle their future.”
Richard bestowed a look of warm approval on Hugh. “That is kind of you.”
“Isn’t it?” Hugh replied woodenly.
“These poor children,” Lady Elizabeth said. “Why, they are orphans!”
Alan felt Nicholas’s small, sturdy body stiffen.
“Fortunately, they have friends,” Hugh returned coolly. “Now, if you don’t mind, we had better be on our way.”
Iseult stirred in Hugh’s arms and opened sleepy blue eyes. She made a sound of alarm when she saw the strangers.
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Hugh said to her gently. “You’re with me.”
“Oh,” she said. “Hugh.” She nestled against him again and closed her eyes.
“Lady Elizabeth and I will ride on ahead of you,” Richard said. “Shall I alert Lady Cristen that you are coming?”
“Do that,” Hugh returned. “Tell her that I’ll meet her at Ralf’s house.”
“Very well.” Richard said something to Elizabeth, who nodded, and then they both cantered off.
Hugh put Rufus into a walk so as not to disturb the sleeping Iseult, and the two horses and one dog traveled slowly on.
22
Cristen was waiting at Ralf’s house when Hugh and Alan and the children rode up. After a flurry of introductions, Hugh left Nicholas and Iseult to her competent care and rode back to the castle to make arrangements to have Lady Rye’s body brought into Lincoln. She would be buried from the Minster along with her husband.